Birds, ants, and kindergarten...oh, my!

Hubby and I have been trading back and forth some kind of yucky stomach virus and I got it yesterday.   Now, NOTHING is supposed to interfere with me driving Miss Ellie to kindergarten, but I did leave about 10 minutes later than usual.   AND, I was unable to pick her up for early release Wednesday so I called her mom and told her she would HAVE to do so!   So she did. 

I'm enoying watching all the birds out front at the feeders, but the little verdins go through a thistle sock of food A DAY!   I left and returned from driving Miss Ellie to kindeergarten this morning and the darn sock was... HALF EMPTY!   Little buggers!   If we didn't have so many of them, I wouldn't even put it out, but we do, so I do.  I heard and then saw our neighborhood woodpecker yesterday so I put out some fresh oranges for him this morning, but I THINK he liked the ants crawling all over the old slices, so I also left them up.

Gotta run some errands today...I have books to return to one library for the 5 year old and I'm going to the one in my town to check out 10 more for her to read!   She is learning to read some words on her own now and she wants to be read to... EVERY NIGHT!   I think this month she's had 75 books read to her!   WOW!   That's pretty good...and now the 2 1/2 year old brother is catching onto this reading thing. 

I'm going to try to work on some journals today.   I sold 3 this week, so I need more for my shop.   Don't forget to stop and take a peek:   ETSY shop:     https://www.etsy.com/shop/DesertsandBeyond?ref=pr_shop_more     So far I have 4 Christmas journals and I'm going to make a 5 ring binder next week.   Here are some pics:

Baseball game and Bodie

Our grandson had a baseball game yesterday and it wasn't raining, like last Saturday, so off we went.  By "we" I mean me, hubby, and our 11 month old lab mix, Bodie.   We knew he would love all the kids there (he's extremely friendly) and the grandkids hadn't met him yet.

Ben (the 9 year old) got to pitch the first 2 innings and then played first base.   His team won 14-3!  He hit a single, a double, got walked, and I missed 1 at bat because I was out walking Bodie...

The 3 year old granddaughter had the most fun with Bodie.   She loves dogs and she sat down with him and he slobbered all over her!   She was very gentle with him.

It was a good day for all.  I drove home, ate dinner, had a beer, watched the first 7 innings of the Dodgers' game, and then went to sleep!   Bodie slept the entire way home, ate his dinner, and went to sleep.  See a pattern here?

Pics below:

 Bailey, the 3 year old, with Bodie.

 Baby Riley with her yogurt...

Ben pitching

Kindergarten trip to Oak Glen

So, I drove my own car and met Miss Ellie's kindergarten class up at Oak Glen (apple growing region) yesterday.   There was NO WAY I was going on the school bus.   First, I can't stand all the noise.   Second, I wouldn't have lasted all day like they did, although I heard they were screaming for snacks and were hungry for lunch!   I left before all that (thank goodness).

I did follow them around for about an hour and went on the tour of the apple packing areas and listened to "Johnny Appleseed" talk about the kinds of apples, but it was outside and the temps were about 85 degrees and Nana had low blood sugar, so I left.   I had a bean & cheese burrito in my car from my morning stop at Baker's, so I scarfed it down driving down the mountain.  Got home and took a nap for an hour.  Life was better after that.

Here are some pics from our day:

 Beautiful apples!

 Apples going up the conveyor belt to be washed, then dried, then sorted, then packed...

 Apples on one of the trees.   It is still early in the apple season...

 Apples on trees...

I liked these apples in boxes IN THE SHADE!

More photos tomorrow...stay tuned!

Summer comes to a close

Summer is slowly coming to a close here in the desert of Southern California.   The changes are subtle.   I was driving home from Indio Interstate 10 the other day and I noticed how much further south the sun is setting.   I've followed sunsets for years now along the ridge line of the San Jacinto mountains and I'm following them again this year.  Also, there is a golden glow in the late afternoons, about 4 p.m.  Finally, my Chinaberry tree is turning yellow and its leaves are falling.   I have 3 Adirondack chairs under it, where I sit and write in my journal, and every morning they are covered with leaves.   Finally, birds are returning...I saw and heard a black phoebe and saw 2 ducks overhead one morning while driving the 5 year old granddaughter to kindergarten.

I went out this morning (since trash pickup day is tomorrow) and filled up 2 of the green waste recycling bins with trimmings just from the front yard.   The mesquite has exploded with growth over the last month.  I know because one weekend I filled up 3 of the green bins with branches from it. I'm trimming stuff now to get ready for my fall annual plantings.  I have a large area along our walkway that I want to plant hollyhocks, so I needed to clean up that area... DONE!

We DO have to get the mesquite trimmed and thinned out.   To my horror, I went out one day, looked up, and saw where one of the major branches is cracking.   It's the one that goes out over the driveway and shades our car.   So, unfortunately, because of the weight of all the side branches, it will need to come down.   There are a couple of dead branches, too, and a couple that are hanging almost straight down, so we will have to get a professional tree trimmer out to trim it.   $$$$ ahead...sigh...BUT, it has to be done.

So, fall is slowly creeping up on us.   We will have double digit temperatures next week...FINALLY!   And, our nights are cooling off, to where we can open up the windows and TURN OFF the air conditioner!   Isn't that nice?

Take care.
~Cheryl Ann~

Passages

My aunt died 2 nights ago.   She would have been 95 next month.   She was my mother's younger sister.

She was the last remaining relative in my immediate family of her generation, the one that grew up during World War II.  My own father was 32 when he enlisted in the Army, after Pearl Harbor and he was 42 when I was born.   He died in 1998 at the age of 88.   Mom died in 2000 at the age of 82, from pneumonia.

Aunt Claire and my uncle always enjoyed coming out to visit the horses.   They lived in San Diego and it wasn't too far of a drive for them.   Then they sold their house there and moved to Indio, within 5 minutes of both of our grown children who often stopped to see them.   My uncle died a couple of years after their move and they continued to stop in and check on my aunt.  She was more of a grandmother to them than their own grandmother, who had passed, like I said, in 1998, so she never got to see her great-grandchildren.  But Claire often had dinner with our daughter in Indio and her family and loved on the grandchildren like they were her own. 

Rest in peace, Claire
September, 1924 - August 26, 2018

67 degrees on the front patio this morning!

As soon as I let Bodie (our 9 month old puppy) out for his morning "business" and breakfast, I could feel a cool breeze and cool air!   I HAD to run and see what the temperature was.   It was 67 degrees!!!   WOWZA!   Of course, today will be 108 at the peak this afternoon, but I've got every door and window open right now letting the cool air inside.   Any time we can turn OFF the air conditioner is a blessing!   :-)

I finished two journals yesterday and they are now listed in my ETSY shop: 
https://www.etsy.com/shop/DesertsandBeyond?ref=pr_shop_more

It sure was nice getting the Farmers' Market one DONE!   The papers had been sitting around since July!   I had put it aside to finish it later and, OF COURSE, I completely forgot about it!   But now it is done.

This week is going to be a busy one!   I have to pick up Miss Ellie Wednesday, take her to the library, and then go back and pick up her 2 year old brother.   Same thing for Thursday.   Tuesday I'm meeting a friend and colleague who retired the same year I did.   We're heading over to Coffee Bean for a morning of gossip.

Just waiting for summer TO END!

July was brutal here.   It was our hottest July...EVER!

However, the last few mornings here in the desert have been quite pleasant.  Our temps have been in the 70's and more are in the forecast for the rest of the week!   I can actually go outside now in the morning without melting!   And, it looks like the holiday weekend will be pleasant, too.   YAY!

I sold 3 journals to one very nice lady last week and sold another one yesterday!  I should finish another one today (hopefully), then I need to get started on a third one.  I like to keep my ETSY shop filled.   I'm really enjoying making the oversize journals using 11x17 inch paper folded in half.   That's a good size and it is my own personal favorite size.   My personal journal is that size.   I don't like the smaller journals, but that's just me...

Just some random photos:

 Our daughter took this photo of our grandkids a couple of weekends ago. 

 It is now kindergarten 7, Ellie 6.  When I pick her up on Wednesdays, she falls asleep too.

The "BIG 3"...Atticus, Rommel, and my Ripley....all RIP now.